Attorney General Pam Bondi's Statement on the Unanimous Passage of the Florida Information Protection Act by the House of Representatives

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.— Attorney General Pam Bondi issued the following statement onthe House of Representative’s unanimous passage of the Florida Information ProtectionAct of 2014, Senate Bill 1524, sponsored by Senator John Thrasher and RepresentativeLarry Metz. The bill will now head to Governor Rick Scott.

“Identity theft wreaks havoc on individuals’ lives and can have long-lasting effects,”stated Attorney General Pam Bondi. “This legislation will better protect Floridians’personal information by ensuring that businesses and governmental entities takecertain measures to protect personal information and report data breaches toconsumers. The legislation will require a 30-day notice to my office when a significantdata breach has occurred. I thank Senator John Thrasher, Representative Larry Metz,and the entire Senate and House of Representatives for their support of this importantconsumer protection legislation.”

“Protecting Floridians from fraud and identity theft has been a cornerstone of AttorneyGeneral Pam Bondi’s office. When Attorney General Bondi asked me to sponsorlegislation to expand protections for Floridians from security breaches of their personalinformation, I was pleased to support her in this important effort,” stated Senator JohnThrasher.

“The Florida Information Protection Act of 2014 will better protect the confidentialpersonal information of Floridians and hold accountable those who attempt to breachthe security of that information. I applaud Attorney General Pam Bondi for her leadershipin advocating for this important consumer protection legislation,” Representative LarryMetz.

“On behalf of the business community, we congratulate Attorney General Pam Bondi onthe passage of the Florida Information Protection Act out of both chambers and thankher for her unwavering commitment to safeguard Florida consumers and businesses,”said Associated Industries of Florida President & CEO Tom Feeney. “We are hopefulthe Governor will sign this good bill that will aid businesses in protecting consumerinformation should a data breach occur.”

“The Florida Chamber of Commerce appreciates Attorney General Pam Bondi’scommitment to strengthening consumer protection through the passage of the databreach bill, and we look forward to working with her in future,” said David Hart,Executive Vice President of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

“Florida’s retailers appreciate the efforts of Attorney General Pam Bondi and her staffto communicate and work with the retail industry on this issue, and we look forward tocontinuing to address this important policy area,” said Rick McAllister, President andCEO of the Florida Retail Federation.

The bill includes the following changes to current law:

· Requires proper notice to be provided to consumers within 30 days unless good causeis shown for an additional 15 day delay;· Requires proper notice to be provided to the Office of the Attorney General for a breach affecting 500 or more individuals;· Defines what information must be included in a proper notice;· Expands the definition of Personal Information to include health insurance, medical information, financial information and online account information, such as security questions and answers, email addresses, and passwords;· Expands the data breach statute to include state governmental entities and their instrumentalities; · Requires businesses and state government entities to take reasonable measures to protect data; · Requires the Office of the Attorney General to provide an annual report to the Legislature regarding a data breaches by governmental entities; and · Authorizes enforcement actions under Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act for any statutory violations.